Fairfax false news prompts antisemitic comments.

Social media, for all its benefits, has allowed all kinds of lies and conspiracy theories to be circulated unchecked. It is therefore not surprising that antisemitism, which attracts lies and conspiracy theories like moths to a flame, has flourished in this forum. A false news story published in New Zealand last week has brought some classic antisemitism (and new antisemitism) to the fore on Facebook.

If you continue to promote this resolution from our point of view it will be a declaration of war. It will rupture the relations and there will be consequences. We’ll recall our ambassador to Jerusalem.”Benjamin Netanyahu

However, the Fairfax/Stuff story still reads as though Israel declared war on New Zealand for sponsoring and voting for the anti-Israel resolution at the United Nations. The misleading title remained unchanged.

Furthermore, the article posits an extreme and completely fabricated scenario of a possible cyber attack by Israel on New Zealand’s critical infrastructure. This claim is reckless and irresponsible and has no basis in fact. If it was intended to be satirical, it seems a lot of people missed the joke.

Two Facebook pages, in particular, had the most vile comments from users: the official stuff.co.nz page and the Wake-Up-NZ page.

Wake Up NZ claims to be “a team of dedicated truth-seekers, committed to disseminating information that the mainstream media fails to bring you”. While stuff.co.nz removed some of the offensive comments after receiving at least one complaint, Wake Up NZ has said that “criticising Israel does not make us antisemitic.”

However, some of the comments on both sites have gone well beyond simple criticism of Israel, into hate speech. Below is only a sample of those comments, which include Mark Prescott writing “Finish what Adolf started and the world would be a much better place”, Danie Weir positing “The gas chamber myth has been totally debunked…”, Mark Anderson claiming “Jews have no morals … the jews were / are terrorists”, and Daniel Wood giving his opinion that “[The Nazis] Should of wiped them all off the planet 75 years ago and problem solved…”.

The Fairfax story might not have ‘almost started a nuclear war’, as the Christmas Eve fake story about Israel and Pakistan threatened to, but the comments on Facebook suggest it has given legitimacy and encouragement to New Zealand antisemites. This should serve as a warning to journalists that they should be careful to check sources, report accurately, and not make up fanciful and sensationalist fabrications.

Whenever Israel is unfairly treated, the Jewish community in New Zealand sees an increase in antisemitic incidents. Recently, the reporting of the UNSC resolution against Israel has led some commentators to write articles which are overtly or subtly anti-Semitic. There have also been a large number of vile antisemitic comments from Kiwis on social media. The New Zealand Jewish Council also condemns the graffiti attack against Murray McCully. While many in our community disagree with some actions taken by the Minister, offensive acts such as this should have no place in our society and are unacceptable to all New Zealanders, particularly to the Jewish Community, which has suffered from graffiti and other attacks in the past.” New Zealand Jewish Council

In 2016, Race Relations Commissioner, Dame Susan Devoy, spoke out against neo-Nazis in New Zealand and yet these online comments repeat classic antisemitism and Holocaust denial. She has also recently made comments about the “casual racism” of Sir Peter Leitch. The Human Rights Commission have not responded to Shalom.Kiwi for comment about the antisemitism but did send an email to an unknown list that read:

Post the recent United Nations Security Council resolution, the Human Rights Commission has been made aware of increased anti-Semitic comments in New Zealand. We want to reassure our communities that anti-Semitism has no place in New Zealand. Please report any anti-Semitic comments to the respective media and social media organisations to remove such comments and share your stories at www.thatsus.co.nz” Human Rights Commission

Facebook, continuing a well-documented trend of bias against Jews, has responded that the comments reported “do not violate our Community Standards”. If calling for genocide does not violate Facebook’s Community Standards, it is hard to imagine what does.

In less than three weeks, New Zealand will commemorate the United Nations International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. Comments like those on the false news story are a reminder of just how important such a day is. Hate starts with comments like this.

Shalom.Kiwi’s contributors are a mix of Māori, Pakeha, Jewish and non-Jewish New Zealanders, who have all spent considerable time in Israel. http://shalom.kiwi/